


Shed More Warmth

by temperamental_mistress



Series: A Shower of Sparks [4]
Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, Canon Era, Kissing, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-03
Updated: 2016-08-03
Packaged: 2018-07-29 00:56:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7664014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/temperamental_mistress/pseuds/temperamental_mistress
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Courfeyrac could feel tension and anxiety radiating from the young man, as usual. He hardly needed to reach out with his magic at all. “You cannot always be working, my friend. You must learn to relax.” </p><p>“I am relaxed,” Marius did not look up from his book. This, of course, was clearly a lie. Courfeyrac knew it was probably his concerns about finances that kept him so engrossed in his work, but did not dare bring the matter up. They had exhausted that argument swiftly in the first week they had known each other. </p><p>“What you need is a mistress to distract you,” Courfeyrac suggested, setting his hands on the younger man’s shoulders, gently kneading at the knots he found there. “I know several charming young ladies who I’m certain would be more than happy to oblige a handsome fellow like you.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shed More Warmth

Courfeyrac felt a weight lift from his shoulders as he reached the top of the stairs. While the meeting had not been a long one, it had been tedious, and he was eager for a chance to relax. He fished his key out of his coat pocket, humming to himself as he considered how best to spend the remainder of his evening. As he crossed the threshold, his eyes were immediately drawn to the figure seated by the window. Marius was in the same position Courfeyrac normally found him in — nose buried in a book, taking advantage of every last bit of daylight. 

“Please tell me you’ve moved since this morning,” Courfeyrac asked as he shed his coat. 

Marius responded with a thoroughly unconvincing nod, and Courfeyrac could only sigh. It wasn’t quite the relaxing evening he had been planning upon, but something had to be done. Once his hat was hung and his shoes set aside, he lit a candle to dispel the increasing darkness , and went to join his roommate by the window. 

Courfeyrac could feel tension and anxiety radiating from the young man, as usual. He hardly needed to reach out with his magic at all. “You cannot always be working, my friend. You must learn to relax.” 

“I am relaxed,” Marius did not look up from his book. This, of course, was clearly a lie. Courfeyrac knew it was probably his concerns about finances that kept him so engrossed in his work, but did not dare bring the matter up. They had exhausted that argument swiftly in the first week they had known each other. 

“What you need is a mistress to distract you,” Courfeyrac suggested, setting his hands on the younger man’s shoulders, gently kneading at the knots he found there. “I know several charming young ladies who I’m certain would be more than happy to oblige a handsome fellow like you.” The tension in Marius’s shoulders only increased at this, but Courfeyrac did not relent in his ministrations. “Unless, of course, your preferences lean the other way. Nothing wrong with that.” 

Marius turned in his chair, disentangling himself from Courfeyrac’s grip. His face and neck had turned an impressive shade of pink. “It’s nothing to do with…with preference. It’s only…I wouldn’t…” he looked away. “I wouldn’t know the first thing to do with a mistress or another man.” 

“Kiss them, I should think.” 

Somehow, Marius flushed a shade darker, until his freckles nearly disappeared. “Then I would only be a disappointment to them.” 

Courfeyrac smiled gently, “Surely you cannot be so terrible at it.” 

“I have no experience to fall back on,” Marius mumbled.

“I could teach you,” Courfeyrac bit his tongue as soon as the words were spoken. He had gone too far. In the two months they had lived together, he had done his best to keep his feelings to himself. It couldn’t be helped that his roommate was an attractive young man, but he had thought it best to remain quiet on the matter, rather than risk the beginnings of their friendship. Despite his own fears however, Courfeyrac felt a shift in Marius’s anxiety, as it suddenly became more focused. 

“Could…” the word came out sounding almost more like a hiccup than proper speech. Marius swallowed, and Courfeyrac could see his jaw tremble as he tried again. “You w-would…” 

He spared Marius the effort of finishing the thought, “If you like.” 

“I…yes?” The pale young man’s eyes lit up with some mixture of curiosity and mild terror. “Please?” 

Courfeyrac couldn’t help but laugh at this, and lifted his hand to a freckled cheek, drawing the other man closer. “It would be my pleasure,” he breathed. He did not immediately kiss Marius, much as he wished to. No, he needed to ease the younger man into it, calm him, lest his awkward little heart burst from shock. He paused as the sides of their noses touched, near enough to feel Marius’s shaky breath against his lips, and simply waited for him to grow used to the idea of being so close. He ran a thumb over delicate cheek bones until he felt a smile bloom. 

Gently, easily, as though it were the most natural thing in the world, Courfeyrac leaned closer to press their lips together. He stayed there for the space of a breath, then retreated. His hand never left Marius’s cheek, caressing it gently as he awaited a reaction. 

Eyes drifting shyly, Marius chewed at his lip, as though trying to taste the warmth that had been there a moment prior. The nervous grin remained as his gaze slowly returned to meet Courfeyrac’s. He leaned in again. 

Courfeyrac obliged him with another gentle kiss against his lips, lingering this time. “Don’t clench your jaw so,” he whispered, a thumb already running along the side of Marius’s face. 

“Sorry.” 

His answer was another kiss, this one deeper than the first two, and Marius’s jaw only stiffened further in surprise. Courfeyrac wound his free arm around Marius’s waist, pulling him closer, and the gesture seemed to soothe whatever nerves still coursed through the young man’s veins. If anything, Marius melted into the kiss with the ease of a familiar, if inexperienced partner. A hand rose to grip at Courfeyrac’s shirt front. 

Courfeyrac could hardly keep the smile from his face as he guided Marius through the art of being thoroughly kissed and caressed. The earlier tension had been replaced by obvious, contagious joy, and Courfeyrac felt himself relax properly as the emotions washed over him. He pulled his hand away from Marius’s face, and several sparks fell from his fingertips as he drew them up into Marius’s hair, but the other man startled. 

“What was—“ Marius pulled away, though his hand remained tangled in the front of Courfeyrac’s shirt. 

The tension returned, but this time Courfeyrac felt it in his own limbs. He hesitated, his gaze drifting to his traitorous hands, now pulled close in tight fists. He simply didn’t have Enjolras’s sheer force of will to keep from sparking when he was so relaxed. He looked back to Marius, straightening as he prepared for the inevitable. “I am Sparked.” 

“Yes, of course!” Marius was quick to blush again, the stammer creeping back into his speech. “I had not forgotten. It’s just…only…” he grinned, "I’ve never seen anyone spark. Not so closely.” 

“Is that…all right?” Courfeyrac asked, eyes searching every inch of the young man’s face for the now familiar signs. He knew better than to trust words alone. 

Marius seemed puzzled by this, his face twisting around the thought, “Why shouldn’t it—?” Courfeyrac could see the precise moment that clarity entered his mind, his eyes going wide, eyebrows nearly disappearing into his hairline. “Ah, you needn’t worry, Courfeyrac! As I said when we met, I am not bothered by it in the slightest. Forgive me, I should have realized…” 

Courfeyrac breathed a sigh of relief as Marius continued with his stream of apologies. He closed his eyes, waiting for the flood of memories to push past him, reminders of past lovers who had not handled the revelation nearly so well. A long-healed scar just below his ear lit up with remembered pain for only an instant, before it disappeared into the dark with the rest. 

He knew this would never last. Perhaps it was instinct, or simply long experience speaking to him, but Courfeyrac was certain that Marius would find another to love. Though he might gladly accept that Courfeyrac was Sparked, he doubted the young man would be interested in sharing the difficulties such an existence created. No one ever was. Still, a few shared nights of such delightful warmth and gentle caresses was hardly something he could deny himself. It would be nice, he mused, to have these memories to cast light over some of the shadows that never seemed to go away. 

“Courfeyrac?”

He opened his eyes to find Marius staring at him, concerned. He laughed at the earnestness of the expression, and resumed his earlier hold on the man. “You talk too much,” he said, and kissed Marius anew.

**Author's Note:**

> I’ve been told by certain sources that I am a terrible kisser, so Lord knows where any of this came from. You can safely assume that I am more like Marius than Courfeyrac.


End file.
